Asana vs GanttProject 2026: Cloud Platform vs Free Desktop

Asana vs GanttProject: what is the short answer?

Choose Asana when your priority is a broad work-management platform, with portfolios, many integrations, and several views around the schedule. Choose GanttProject when your priority is offline scheduling, local project files, and no subscription. Neither is universally better: the decisive questions are who needs to edit the schedule, whether critical path and baselines are required, and whether the surrounding workflow should be a focused scheduler or a broader work platform.

Checked on 18 October 2026: Prices and plan details below were checked against the vendors’ official pricing, product, and help pages. Prices are USD list prices for annual billing unless stated otherwise; taxes, promotions, regions, legacy plans, and negotiated contracts can differ.

How do Asana and GanttProject compare now?

The table separates a visible timeline from formal schedule controls. A product can show dated bars while placing dependencies, critical path, or baseline comparison on a higher tier. That distinction matters more than whether a marketing page simply says “Gantt.”

Figures and their sources

Asana

Figure	Value	Source
Free plan (Personal)	Up to 2 users; no Timeline, Gantt or task dependencies	Asana pricing
Starter (Gantt and dependencies)	$10.99 per user per month billed annually, $13.49 monthly	Asana pricing
Critical path	Advanced and above, from $24.99 per user per month billed annually	Asana pricing
Rating	4.5 out of 5 from 13,764 reviews	GetApp

GanttProject

Figure	Value	Source
Desktop app	Free, every feature included; no limit on projects, tasks or users	GanttProject
Microsoft Project files	Imports MPX, MPP and XML; exports XML	GanttProject
Latest stable version	3.3, released 15 January 2024; 3.4 Beta VI on 14 September 2026	GanttProject home page
Rating	4.2 out of 5 from 175 reviews	Capterra UK

Checked on 18 October 2026.

When is Asana the better choice?

Asana is the stronger fit when the priority is a broad work-management platform, with portfolios, many integrations, and several views around the schedule. Paid plans have no seat cap, Portfolios come with Advanced, and Asana lists 100+ free integrations.

The main qualification is equally important. Formal schedulers should account for the Advanced-tier critical-path gate: Starter shows the Gantt chart and dependencies, but not the critical path.

Choose Asana if: its surrounding workflow matters as much as the chart, its current plan limits match the real editor group, and the team has tested one representative project rather than comparing feature names alone.

When is GanttProject the better choice?

GanttProject is the stronger fit when the priority is offline scheduling, local project files, and no subscription. GanttProject is a file-based desktop app rather than a shared cloud workspace. It imports MPX, MPP, and XML files and exports XML; cloud collaboration is a separate, optional paid service.

The tradeoff is not hidden. Real-time collaboration needs the separate cloud service, not the desktop app alone. The latest stable version is 3.3, released on 15 January 2024; version 3.4 is still in beta (Beta VI, 14 September 2026).

Choose GanttProject if: its pricing unit matches how the team works, its scheduling tier contains every required control, and the product’s collaboration model fits internal and external participants.

What does the price comparison look like for 10 people?

• Asana: For 10 paid users, Starter is $1,318.80/year. Advanced is $2,998.80/year and is the first tier with critical path.
• GanttProject: The desktop app is $0 for any team size, although sharing files and coordinating changes are the team’s job. Ten active cloud users would use 10 credits a month (€10), about €120 a year.

Those figures are not automatically like-for-like. A free viewer, collaborator, guest, manager, or desktop user can have different permissions in each product. Compare the smallest group that must actually create tasks, change dates, restructure dependencies, and administer the schedule—not the total number of people who may open a link.

For procurement, model at least three cases: the current editor count, the editor count after one year, and the number of simultaneously active projects. Then confirm the result in each vendor’s checkout because seat minimums, project add-ons, and regional pricing can change the total.

Which product has the stronger Gantt scheduling model?

Asana: Timeline and Gantt views are included on Starter and higher plans. Task dependencies are available on Starter and higher plans, not on Personal. Critical path is available on Advanced and higher plans. Check Asana’s current help pages for baseline support on the plan you would buy.

GanttProject: The Gantt chart is the main view of the desktop app for Windows, macOS, and Linux, which works offline. Task dependencies and constraints come with automatic scheduling, and the source code implements all four link types (FS, SS, FF, SF). Critical path is part of the desktop app; its source code includes a critical path algorithm. Project baselines are included free, for tracking progress against the plan.

A stronger schedule model is not always the better product. A team may rationally accept lighter Gantt controls in exchange for automation, documents, dashboards, or ecosystem fit. Conversely, a project manager who recalculates handoffs daily should not buy a broad platform merely because it can display a timeline.

What should you test before choosing?

1. Import or rebuild one real project with at least 30 tasks.
2. Create the dependency types the project actually uses, including lag if relevant.
3. Move a predecessor and confirm how successors react.
4. Display critical path and a baseline using the tier you intend to buy.
5. Invite one scheduler, one contributor, and one read-only stakeholder.
6. Export the schedule in the format your clients or PMO require.
7. Price the exact number of paid editors and active projects at checkout.

This test exposes permission, scale, and plan-limit differences that a marketing comparison cannot.

When is GanttFather a better fit than Asana or GanttProject?

GanttFather fits a Gantt-first project with up to two editors and many reviewers. It is free for 1 project you own, with 2 editors and unlimited free viewers. Each extra project is US$5 a month (US$2.50 a month billed yearly), and an extra editor seat is US$2 a month (US$1 a month billed yearly). No feature is locked to a paid plan: FS/SS/FF/SF dependencies with lag and lead, critical path, Gantt, List, and Board views, Excel import and export, PDF and PNG reports, live updates, and an MCP server for AI assistants.

The limits: GanttFather has no baselines, no comments, and no resource leveling (workload is only a count of active tasks per person), it runs only in the browser, and dependencies are not part of its Excel import and export. Asana or GanttProject can be the better purchase when those capabilities or a larger ecosystem outweigh the price difference.

Create a free GanttFather project and reproduce one dependency-heavy phase before deciding. For direct product pages, see GanttFather vs Asana and GanttFather vs GanttProject.

Frequently asked questions

Is Asana or GanttProject cheaper?

It depends on paid editors, active projects, and the feature tier. Asana: For 10 paid users, Starter is $1,318.80/year. Advanced is $2,998.80/year and is the first tier with critical path. GanttProject: The desktop app is $0 for any team size, although sharing files and coordinating changes are the team’s job. Ten active cloud users would use 10 credits a month (€10), about €120 a year. Compare the exact checkout totals rather than multiplying a headline price that may use a different team-size band or project bundle.

Which one has a usable free Gantt chart?

Asana: Personal is free for up to 2 users, with unlimited tasks and projects, but it has no Timeline, Gantt, or task dependencies. GanttProject: The desktop app is free and open source (GPL-3.0), with every feature included and no limit on projects, tasks, resources, or users. A $5+ support download is optional. “Free” should be evaluated with its usage, task, project, and collaboration limits—not just account creation.

Which one supports dependencies?

Asana: Task dependencies are available on Starter and higher plans, not on Personal. GanttProject: Task dependencies and constraints come with automatic scheduling, and the source code implements all four link types (FS, SS, FF, SF).

Which one supports critical path?

Asana: Critical path is available on Advanced and higher plans. GanttProject: Critical path is part of the desktop app; its source code includes a critical path algorithm.

Which one supports baselines?

Asana: Check Asana’s current help pages for baseline support on the plan you would buy. GanttProject: Project baselines are included free, for tracking progress against the plan.

How should a team migrate between them?

Export the smallest representative project first, preserve a copy of the source data, and validate task hierarchy, dates, dependency types, lag, assignees, comments, and custom fields after import. No cross-vendor migration preserves every permission, automation, dashboard, or integration, so budget time for manual reconstruction and acceptance testing.

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Sources

1. Asana, Pricing
2. Asana, Pricing feature table (plain text)
3. GanttProject, Free Gantt chart software
4. GanttProject, Official product site
5. GanttProject Cloud, 10-credit pack
6. GanttProject source code, dependency types
7. GanttProject source code, critical path algorithm